Stocks opened in negative territory Tuesday and stayed there through the close. Volume is beginning to thin out as investors get a head start on their long weekend. Remember, the stock market will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and open for an abbreviated session on Black Friday.
When Tuesday's closing bell rang, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.2% at 35,088, the S&P 500 was 0.2% lower at 4,538, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.6% at 14,199.
In focus today was data from the National Association of Realtors that showed existing home sales fell 4.1% from September to October to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.79 million. Year-over-year, existing home sales were down 14.6%. Meanwhile, the median sales price for existing homes was up 3.4% from the same period last year.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"Prospective home buyers experienced another difficult month due to the persistent lack of housing inventory and the highest mortgage rates in a generation," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, in the report.
In other economic news, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its November meeting when it chose to keep interest rates unchanged. The minutes showed "most participants continued to see upside risks to inflation," while "all" Fed officials agreed it was best to "proceed carefully."
Since the Fed's most recent meeting, both the October Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) showed inflation is easing. As such, futures traders are pricing in a 99.8% chance for no rate hike at the next Fed meeting in December, according to CME Group.
Retail earnings a mixed bag ahead of Black Friday
Market participants also took in a mixed bag of retail earnings. Burlington Stores (BURL), for one, shot up 20.7% after the off-price retailer reported higher-than-expected third-quarter earnings of 98 cents per share. Revenue of $2.29 billion matched estimates.
Kohl's (KSS), on the other hand, slumped 8.6% after its third-quarter results. While the department store beat on both its top and bottom lines, same-store sales fell by a wider-than-expected 5.5% and the company lowered its full-year sales growth forecast.
AI stock can soar 40%, says analyst
In non-earnings news, Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan upgraded enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software firm C3.ai (AI, +1.7%) to Outperform from Perform, the equivalents of Buy and Hold, respectively.
The company's "'AI' theme is real and durable, with C3.ai well-positioned as one of the few pure plays helping customers drive new revenue sources and major productivity improvements," the analyst says. AI is already up more than 150% for the year-to-date, but Horan has a $40 price target on the tech stock. This implies upside of more than 40% to current levels.
Investors will hear more about artificial intelligence when Nvidia (NVDA, -0.9%) releases its third-quarter results after tonight's close. Analysts are expecting solid top- and bottom-line growth for one of Wall Street's best AI stocks.
Related content
- When Is the Next CPI Report?
- Kiplinger's Earnings Calendar for This Week
- Are Banks Open on Black Friday in 2023?
-
In Trump’s Economy Should 401(k) Savers 'Set It and Forget It?'It’s hard to bury your head in the sand when the markets are volatile. Here’s when it makes sense and when it doesn’t.
-
Ten Cheapest Places To Live in FloridaProperty Tax Make your Florida vacation spot daily living — these counties have the lowest property tax bills in the state.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Soar on China Trade Talk HopesTreasury Secretary Bessent said current U.S.-China trade relations are unsustainable and signaled hopes for negotiations.
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Drops 971 Points as Powell Pressure Ramps UpPresident Trump is increasing his attacks against Jerome Powell, insisting the Fed chair cut interest rates.
-
Stock Market Today: No 'Powell Put'? No ProblemInvestors, traders and speculators look beyond both another Trump post and more signs of slowing economic activity.
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Drops 699 Points After Powell SpeechFed Chair Powell warned of a slowing economy and higher inflation but said the central bank isn't ready to cut rates just yet.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle Amid Tariff UncertaintyBoeing dropped after China suspended new aircraft orders, while Bank of America and Citi climbed on earnings beats.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Gain on Tech, Auto Tariff TalkThe Trump administration said late Friday that it will temporarily halt tariffs on some Chinese tech imports.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Surge to Close a Volatile WeekIt was another day with a week's worth of both news and price action, but it ended on a strongly positive note.
-
Stock Market Today: Uncertainty Proliferates: Dow Loses 1,014 PointsWeaker-than-expected consumer inflation data wasn't enough to stabilize sentiment during another volatile day for financial markets.
